Sing, Goddess, of detachment; of adopting the third person to sing of the Self, and the comic history of our times ... (and of resignation, accepting that seven careful paragraphs are here mashed into one) ...
In September of 1963, while taking Survey of English Literature as a college sophomore, Epimetheus was introduced to Beowulf and the epic tradition. Milton's "Paradise Lost" and The Companion Poems soon followed. The notion of the hero's descent into Hades made Epi's hair stand on end. It took decades for him to understand that subliminal thrill, but the introduction to Orpheus and Eurydice is the moment when the epic descent seized his imagination, never to let go.
In 1977, when applying to graduate school, he began his application with, "I want to write the American epic." Such an ambition was sure to make the profs laugh, even derisively, but he also knew he had to declare the goal on which his heart was set. He ended the letter with a light joke, and was gratified when the school accepted him.
He didn't begin the first draft until early 1986, and completed his latest revision in March 2016. He thought of course that the first draft was sufficient; he had no idea he had scarce begun, having completed no more than a scaffolding. Slowly he began to learn how broad a true epic must be; that no matter how disheartening, he had to be willing to sustain his own Hadean descent.
In time one translation of Vergil gave him his needed mantra: "Easy is the going down to Avernus; all day and all night the gate to gloomy Pluto stands unbarred. But winning your way back to the upper air, that is the labor, that the task."
Throughout most of the Underworld journey Epi let acceptance by others determine his progress. Since even minor acceptance was rare, and since publishing queries were either ignored or dismissed with "not right for us," he felt trapped in hell. Finally he stood before Time's wingèd chariot, and, despite good health, had to wonder how much time he had left. More, "in the light of eternity," he realized he doesn't need acceptance of others: he just needs to accept his beckoning Self.
And so he resolved to publish "Epi Bound" himself: "Epi Bound" of course being the friendly nickname for "Epimetheus Bound: A Comic Salute to the Epic Tradition (Or, how Wishy Epi grows older without becoming an assassin)." The goal had long been to transform the Furies into the Eumenides, or Workers of Grace. He took his initial inspiration from Ishmael, who, whenever the hypos start to get the best of him, takes to the sea. Just so, whenever the Furies assail Epi, he takes to the computer or to song, and even his lesser works quite truly become his "substitute for pistol and ball."